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I am a part time college English instructor and a shop owner. Located in Cape May County, NJ, we are seasonal, but I am open weekends year round (if the weather permits...aka snow/ice!). You can email me... dutchrose@comcast.net

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Sunday, February 8, 2015

RED is
energizing! At least that is what the
research says; it excites emotions and motivates us to take action...but I
would not follow that advice at a stop sign or a red light! It also
signifies a pioneering spirit and leadership qualities as well as
promoting ambition and determination.

With Valentine's Day looming this
week, it is better known as the color of sexuality (forget grey) and
lust...pink is the love color if you read the color symbol information. Another
interesting tidbit is that it can stimulate the appetite and is used in
restaurants for that purpose.

Valentine's Day originates from the ancient Roman
celebration of Lupercalia which was held on February 15 and was a fertility
festival. When the Romans invaded France, they
introduced this festival in which Roman boys drew names of Roman girls out of
an urn (to determine their partners), and then the couple exchanged gifts on
the festival's day. This was considered a pagan celebration, so in 469
C.E., Pope Gelasius decided to put a Christian spin on this celebration by
declaring that it was now to honor St. Valentine, a young Roman who was
martyred by Emperor Claudius II, and who was said to have died on February
14, 270 C.E. for refusing to give up Christianity.Rumor has it that St. Valentine
was a priest who defied the emperor's ban on marriages by marrying young people
in secret. He was discovered and put to death.

Originally the word
Valentine meant the person whose name was picked from a box to be chosen as
your sweetheart up until the 1500's. Then around 1533, it meant the
folded piece of paper with the sweetheart's name on it. By 1610 it then
became the gift given to this special someone and by 1824 it then became a
poem, letter or verse to a sweetheart.

Another early variation of
Lupercalia sounds like a pilot for a reality TV show with the Kardashians.
Two Roman youths (who were blessed by their priest) would run through the
streets swinging a goatskin thong called a Februa, the Latin word is Februatio
(the act of lashing with sacred thongs), and was believed to be for
purification. From this word comes our word "February".
And the belief is that if a woman was touched by this thong, she would be able
to bear children better. According to the legend, they did this to honor
their God Faunus, the god of crops.

Another theory about
Valentine's Day doesn't begin with the Romans but with Norse. The Normans
had a St. Galantin, which meant "lover of women." Now the
"G" is not pronounced like a "Gah" in the English
language. It is pronounced like a "V" and so the word is like
"Valantin" in sound. They believe that their St.
Galantin's Day is part of the confusion over St. Valentine's Day .

St. Valentine's Day did not come
to America until 1629 with the Puritans, and even here went against some of the
church elders. But love prevails, and the
church could not hold back love and passion even in the New World. About
100 years passed before the first Valentine Cards appeared in the United
States.

Margery Brews (England)
wrote the oldest known valentine in letter form dated 1477, sent to John
Paston. For Valentine once meant "sweetheart" it grew to
represent "message of love."

On 2-14-1667, Samuel
Pepys in his diary described a valentine that he got from his
wife. It was a sheet of blue paper in which her name was written in gold
letters. This became the forerunner of later valentines. But the custom
didn't grow quickly. It took 100 years before it was common to leave a
valentine love letter at the doorstep of your sweetheart.

So however you will celebrate Valentine's Day, whether you are looking for a flying thong or simply a love letter on your doorstep, remember as Robert Fulghum wrote in True Love...

“We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.”